Fifth Third picks up $125 million in stock sale

Fifth Third Bancorp has sold a chunk of its Vantiv Inc. stock for $125 million.

Fifth Third, Cincinnati’s largest locally based bank, sold 5.78 million Class A shares of Symmes Township-based payment processor Vantiv. That cut Fifth Third’s ownership stake by about 12 percent. Fifth Third (Nasdaq: FITB) said it expects to gain $81 million after taxes are deducted. It will take that gain in the second quarter, it said Thursday morning.

The sale is part of Fifth Third’s plan to “continue the process of monetizing the remaining portion of our stake in Vantiv in a considered, orderly fashion over time,” it said in a news release.

Fifth Third still owns 43 million Class B shares of Vantiv (NYSE: VNTV) stock, which can be exchanged for Class A stock. It also owns a warrant that is exercisable to acquire Class A stock.

The bank will still have a stake in 22.8 percent of Vantiv’s future earnings after the sale is completed. It carried the value of its Vantiv ownership at $437 million at the end of the first quarter.

Fifth Third owned all of Vantiv, then known as Fifth Third Processing Solutions, until it spun off the company in 2009. It kept 49 percent ownership at the time but has been gradually selling that stock to cash out its ownership.

The move also impacts Fifth Third’s ability to buy back its own stock. The Federal Reserve granted Fifth Third approval in March to repurchase its own shares by spending up to the amount it gains from selling Vantiv stock.